Method of making hook and eye tape



March 24, 1936. 1 ALBERTS I METHOD OF MAKING HOOK AND EYE TAPE FiledJune 10, 1933 Patented Mar. 24, 1936 PATENT QFE'IQE METHOD OF MAKINGHOOK AND EYE TAPE Jacob L. Alberts, Yonkers, N. Y., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Inc., New York, N. Y.,

York

Simplex Enterprises, a corporation of New Application June 10, 1933,Serial No. 675,191

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of hook-and-eye tapes, and itschief object is to provide an improved method of making hookand-eye tapein which the fasteners will be held more securely in place therein andwhich will hold the garment together more durably than in the ordinaryhook-and-eye tape, and which can be manufactured at a lower cost thanheretofore.

Heretofore hook and eye tapes have been made in numerous ways. In someinstances the hooks-and-eyes have been mounted on the tape entirely bystitching. In other cases the method of attachment has been by means ofrivets or by means of prongs formed on the base portions of thehooks-and-eyes which were pushed through various thicknesses of the tapewhich in some cases was folded in such manner as to conceal or cover allportions of the hooks-andeyes except those adapted to engage one anotherwhen the tape was attached to a garment. While a number of these priordevices have been successful they are all objectionable for one reasonor another, and the present invention aims to so attach the hooks andeyes to the tape that the tape will Withstand the pull or stress towhich the hooks-and-eyes are subjected during use and at the same timebe capable of manufacture at a remarkably low cost.

In making hook-and-eye tapes, one of the means by which the hooks andeyes are secured to the tape consists of a line of stitching which isrun lengthwise of the tape in such manner as to cross over certainportions of the hooks or eyes, as the case may be. This line ofstitching is sewed at high speed, and one of the serious problems inmaking hook-and-eye tapes has been that the mechanism of the sewingmachine, particularly when operating at high speed, has a tendency toturn the hook or eye members to one side as the tape is fed through themachine, and thus interfere with their proper spacing on the tape. Itwill be understood that it is quite important that these hook-and-eyemembers be equally and regularly spaced along the length of the finishedtapes.

By means of the present invention this problem of holding thehook-and-eye members in proper position during this high speed stitchingoperation is solved in a satisfactory manner. In accordance with myimproved method of making these tapes, the hook or eye members(depending upon which kind of tape is to be made), provided withattachment eyes as is customary, are stapled in suitably spaced relationalong the tape member by means of separate wire staples passing throughthe attachment eyes, and thereafter a line of stitching is run over thehook or eye members lengthwise of the tape between the eye where theyare attached to the tape by the staples and the bill portions (in thecase of hook tape) or the eye portions (in the case of eye tape). Acover strip may be added, if desired, and this may consist either of acover member formed by an integral fold of the tape, or of a separatestrip.

Further details of the invention will be brought out in connection withthe accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of hook tape made inaccordance with and illustrating the improved method of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a piece of eye tape;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan View of a hook tape applied to the edge ofthe garment; and.

Fig. 5 is a similar View of a piece of eye tape having a modified tapefold.

The tape shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing comprises an elongatedrectangular sheet of flexible tape material I having the left edgeturned on itself to form a fold 2, and having a wider fold 3 at theright side. The fold 3 is further folded and doubled under to form afold 4 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Each of the hook-members 5 consists of a single piece of wire-preferablybrass-the wire being doubled on itself at its middle, with the legsthereby formed twisted around each other to simultaneously form thetenon portion 1 of the hook-member and also to form a knot 8, thepurpose of which will be later described. The remaining portion of eachleg is looped outwardly to form anchoring arms 52. At the ends of thesearms are attachment loops or eyes 53 of the sort usually found on hooksand eyes. The hookmembers 5 thus formed are fiat, the bill or hookportions 7' have not yet been formed, and the tenon portions 1 lie inthe same plane as the anchoring portions or arms 52. With the hookmembers 5 in this flat condition they are stapled to the tape member bymeans of wire staples 41. These staples are of a standard typeconsisting, in their unbent condition, of a U-shaped bar of relativelysmall gauge stiff wire. The sides, or legs, of the staples are insertedin the attachment loops 53 and then pushed through one or more folds ofthe tape I ,-for example, through folds 3 and 4,-and then bent towardone another against the inner surface of the innermost fold, as shown indotted lines. The hook-members are positioned at such a distance back ofthe edge II that about three-quarters of the tenon portion 1 projectsout over the fold 2. It will be understood that the hook-members areapplied in any desired spacing along the tape I.

A strip |2 of a material preferably similar to the tape material and ofa width no greater than that of the fold 3 is now laid down fiat overthe hook-members 5 while they remain in their fiat condition, and a lineof comparatively strong stitching I3 is run down as close to the edge IIas is consistent with good holding qualities. In making this stitching,at least one point of anchorage thereof is located in each loop of thefiat hook members. The stapling through the fold 3--4 of the fabric notonly forms a part of the attachment of the hook-members to the tape, butalso greatly facilitates the method of manufacture of the tape since bythis means the hookmembers are firmly held in position in the desiredspaced relation along the tape. during the stitching operation. Also thehook-members 5 can be stapled onto the tape with great rapidity by meansof automatically operating stapling heads which simultaneously feed andapply to the folded tape a plurality of the hook-members. Any convenientnumber of the hook-members may be thus simultaneously stapled to thetape.

After the hook-members have been stapled to the tape and the coveringstrip l2 stitched in place over the base or anchoring arms 52 of thehook-members, the tenon portions 1 of the hookmembers are bent to theright as viewed in Fig. 1 around the edge I of covering strip l2 to formthe bills or bill portions 1. This completes the manufacture of the hooktape.

The purpose of the covering member or strip l2 and stitching |3 is toform, adjacent the outer edges of the anchoring arms 52, an abutment Mof such height and strength that the strain ordinarily occurring in suchgarments as a pull outwardly on the hooks, will be resisted by thefabric |2 held in place against the anchoring arms 52 and the surface oftape by the line of stitching I3. By this construction, the hooks areheld firmly and in invariable alignment and registry with thecorresponding eyes, so that not only are garments provided with thistape less likely to come open, but the fastening and unfastening of suchgarments is considerably facilitated.

The tape may be sold made as described above or if desired, a line ofstitching 5 may be run down the other edge of the member l2. They areusually furnished, however, without this second stitching. To attach theready-made tape to the garment, it is only necessary, as shown in Fig.4, to run a row of stitches down one edge and through the garment, and arow of stitches 18 on the opposite edge and through the garment.

The twist or knot 8, as shown in Fig. 1, strengthens the tenon portion 1and at the same time forms a hump or projection IS in the upper surfaceof the member l2, beneath the gooseneck or bill I of the hook. This humpis of sufficient size to prevent the eye from backing out of the hook,which it has a tendency to do when the garment is slackened. It doesnot, however, hamper the easy unfastening of the hook from the eye,since the bill portion 1 possesses a sufficient degree of flexibilityfor this purpose, and the fabric covering over the twist 8 also gives toa certain extent. The stitching in making the tape can be done on asewing machine of standard type, and the completed tape can also beattached to a garment by an ordinary sewing machine.

Fig. 2 illustrates the present invention applied to an eye tape, and itwill be noted, that this tape embodies similar structural features tothe hook tape. In this figure, a piece of tape material 20 is folded ina manner similar to the material in Fig. 1, that is, with folds, 2', 3',and 4', and has a plurality of eyes 2| distributed equidistantly alongit near the edge 22. The eye members 2| are of a standard type havingattachment loops 56 through which the legs of staples 50 are insertedand then pushed through one or more folds of the tape 26 and crimpedtoward one another, as shown in dotted lines. A covering strip 51 isthen applied as before described in connection with Fig. 1 and a line ofstitching 26 is run along close to the edge 22, care being taken to haveat least one loop of stitching pass around each leg of the eye.

This form of tape is also capable of manufacture by automatic machinery,and any convenient number of eyes can be simultaneously stapled to thetape by providing the machine with a plurality of stapling heads. Theeye members are fed to the stapling heads simultaneously with theattaching staples, the legs of the staples being held in registry withthe attachment eyes and substantially simultaneously pushed throughthese eyes, through the fold of the tape, and then crimped bymechanically actuated means. As in the method of making hook tape, thestapling of the eye members to the tape secures them firmly thereon sothat they are not displaced from their proper position and properlyspaced relation when run through the sewing machine to apply the line ofstitching.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a modification of the embodiment shown in thepreceding figures. In this modification the separate covering strip I2is obviated by the manner in which the tape is 1 folded.

The eye tape member shown in this figure consists of a piece of tapematerial having main portions 40 and 4|, folded oppositely towards eachother, the fold 4| being narrower than the fold 40. Each fold, 40, 4|,has a secondary fold 40', 4|, under it. Eye fasteners 42, identical withthose previously described, are distributed equidistantly along theinner edge 43 of the fold 40, and have staples 50 which" are stapledthrough the folds 40, 40 in the manner previously described. The fold 4|is then laid over anchorage portions of the eyes, and a line ofstitching 44 is run along the tape in the mode already described. Theeye-tape is then ready to be attached to a garment. It will beunderstood that hook tape may be made in a similar manner, hook fastenermembers 5 being used in place of the eye members 42.

If desired, in place of the twisted form of hookmember shown in Fig. 1,a hook-member which is substantially identical in form with the standardtype of hook-member now in every day use may be employed. Thesehook-members are attached to the tape in the manner just described inconnection with hook members 5.

The stapling of the hook-members to the tape in accordance with themethod of my present invention is of great importance in lowering thecost of manufacture of hook-and-eye tape inasmuch as it provides amethod by means of which the hooks and eyes can be accurately positionedon the tape prior to the stitching of the cover member over theanchorage portions of the hooks and eyes. The fastener members are sofirmly secured in place by this means that the lines of stitching I3,26, 55, and 61 can be run at extraordinarily high speed withoutdisplacing the hook or eye members from the accurately spaced positionon the tape. This stitching operation is accomplished in sewing machinesof standard arrangement which are arranged to prevent the needle frombeing broken by engagement with the metal of the hooks or eyes institching directly over them. In addition to the advantages of low costof manufacture afiorded by my present invention, the combination ofstapling means and the abutment afforded by the lines of stitching l3,etc. With their associated fabric folds, firmly anchors the hooks andeyes to the tape in such manner as to efiectively prevent displacement.

It is to be understood that the term cover member as used herein andparticularly in the appended claims includes a cover member formed by anintegral fold of the tape as well as a cover member which is applied tothe tape as a separate strip.

I claim:

1. The method of making hook or eye tape Which comprises stapling hooksor eyes having attachment eyes in spaced relation along a textile tapemember by means of separate wire staples passing through the attachmenteyes, and thereafter passing a line of stitching over said hook or eyemembers between the point where they are attached to the tape member bythe staples and the bill or eye portions, said staples holding the hooksor eyes in spaced relation during the stitching operation.

2. The method of making hook or eye tape which comprises stapling hooksor eyes having attachment eyes in spaced relation along a textile tapemember by means of separate wire staples passing through the attachmenteyes, applying a cover member over at least a portion of said hooks oreyes and securing said cover member to the tape member by a line ofstitching which passes over the hooks or eyes between the attachmenteyes and the bill or eye portions, said staples holding the hooks oreyes in spaced relation during the stitching operation.

3. The method of making hook or eye tape which comprises stapling hooksor eyes having attachment eyes in spaced relation along a textile tapemember by means of separate wire staples passing through the attachmenteyes, folding one side of said tape member over at least a portion ofsaid hooks or eyes and securing said upper fold to a nether fold by aline of stitching which passes over the hooks or eyes between theattachment eyes and the bill or eye portions, said staples holding thehooks or eyes in spaced relation during the stitching operation.

4. The method of making hook tape which comprises stapling hook membershaving attachment eyes and incompletely formed bill portions in spacedrelation along a textile base member by means of separate wire staplespassing through the attachment eyes, placing a cover member over aportion of said hooks, including the attachment eyes, the edge of saidcover member being spaced from the outer ends of the tenon portions ofsaid hook members, stitching said cover member to the base member by aline of stitching which passes over the hook members between theattachment eyes and the outer ends of the tenon portions, said staplesholding the hook members in spaced relation during the stitchingoperation, and then bending the tenon portions of said hooks over theedge of said cover member to form the bill portions of said hooks.

JACOB L. ALBERTS.

